“A complete joy” – Deacons and wives gather for spiritual nourishment and fellowship in first annual retreat

Deacons from throughout the eparchy gathered with their wives outside Pittsburgh August 26-28 for a weekend of prayer, penance, liturgy, and fellowship.

Held at the Gilmary Catholic Retreat Center in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, the 2016 Deacon and Wives Retreat was led by Protodeacon David Kennedy of St. Elias the Prophet Church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Deacon Myron Spak of Holy Trinity parish in Carnegie, Pa., and Deacon Trevor Fernandes of St. Michael the Archangel parish in Toledo, Ohio, organized the retreat.

“Deacons and their wives gathering together for spiritual instruction, the participation of our bishop, our participation in the Holy Mysteries and Divine Liturgy and the Divine Office was a complete joy,” said Deacon Trevor.

The Most Reverend Bohdan J. Danylo opened the retreat on Friday with welcoming remarks and closed it on Sunday with a Pontifical Divine Liturgy followed by a conference.

In his opening remarks, Bishop Bohdan said that with deacons and wives coming from throughout the eparchy the retreat was a time for everyone participating to get to know one another.

But even more important, Bishop Bohdan noted, the retreat gave deacons and their wives time for prayer, reflection, and talking with God. “We all need him,” Bishop Bohdan said.

Putting on the garment of Christ

Protodeacon David led the deacons and their wives through reflections on Scripture passages to help them gain a greater understanding of what it means to live as Christians who, in the words of St. Paul, have put on Christ and so are robed in the garment of salvation.

Among the questions Protodeacon David asked the deacons and their wives to reflect on were “Who am I?” and “What is reality?”

For the Christian, he said, reality is living in the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of man. Christians answer the question “Who am I?” by saying that they are disciples of Christ who like St. Paul can say that Christ lives in them.

Divine Liturgy is one of the principle ways we learn how to live as Christ in the world, but we don’t always get the message. “We’re great at singing the words of liturgy, but we’re probably not as good at living them out,” Protodeacon David said.

We are not born Christians, he noted. We choose to become Christians. “I choose to die with Christ and rise with him. I choose this identity,” Protodeacon David said.

Choosing the identity of Christian means we must love as God loves. We must love God, and we must love our neighbor as ourselves. This is often very difficult for us, yet as Christians it is the

choice before us. “I can choose to love my enemies, and I can choose to do good to those who hate me,” Protodeacon David said.

And loving those who hate us means learning to forgive from the heart, he said.

Praying together, expressing gratitude

In addition to Protodeacon David’s conferences, deacons and their wives prayed the Liturgy of Hours together and participated in Divine Liturgy.

Following Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning, the Right Reverend Monsignor Archimandrite George Appleyard, who attended the entire retreat and served as a spiritual director, led the deacons in praying the Panakhyda for the Most Reverend Richard Steven Seminack.

Bishop Richard, the Bishop of the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, died at the age of 74 on August 16 after a long battle with cancer. Many throughout the eparchy, but especially those in Carnegie, Pa., remember Bishop Richard as the pastor at Holy Trinity parish for some eighteen years.

On Saturday afternoon, wives met with Protodeacon David in a special conference to reflect on their lives as women married to deacons and to share their experiences in the parish and at home.

On Saturday evening, deacons and wives celebrated the Holy Mystery of Repentance. Confessors included: Archimandrite George; Reverend Jason Charron of Holy Trinity parish in Carnegie, Pa.; Reverend Andriy Kelt of Protection of the Mother of God in Revloc, Pa., and Immaculate Conception in Northern Cambria, Pa.; and Reverend Michael Polosky from Saints Peter and Paul parishes in Aliquippa and Ambridge, Pa.

In a closing conference, Bishop Bohdan opened the floor to the deacons and their wives to comment on the benefits of the retreat or to ask questions about other matters related to the diaconate or the eparchy.

Deacons and their wives expressed gratitude to Bishop Bohdan for supporting the retreat and for his participation. They also thanked Archimandrite George for his daily participation, thanked the priests who heard their confessions, and praised the work of Deacons Myron and Trevor in organizing the retreat. They also wholeheartedly expressed a desire for the retreat to continue on an annual basis.

Camaraderie, fellowship

Deacons Myron and Trevor began talking about organizing a retreat a few years ago while attending Holy Week liturgies at St. Josaphat Cathedral in Parma. After Bishop Bohdan was installed, they approached him with their idea for a retreat and he gave them his blessing.

The idea of a deacon and wives retreat grew out of the desire of the organizers to recapture the camaraderie experienced in diaconate formation: “We were required to go on an annual retreat with our wives and the camaraderie and support was very special,” Deacon Myron said.  “I have been ordained three years now, and I miss that fellowship.”

The deacons decided to include wives in the retreat because of the support each gives to the diaconal ministry of her husband, and they included deacon aspirant/candidates to encourage and support them on their path to the diaconate. In fact, two deacon aspirants attended the retreat and took on the role of altar servers for Divine Liturgy.

Plans for next year

With the overwhelming approval of the deacons and their wives, and the support of Bishop Bohdan, Deacons Myron and Trevor are already planning next year’s retreat. The 2017 Deacons and Wives Retreat will be held September 24-27, 2017, also at the Gilmary Catholic Retreat Center in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania.

“The retreat exceeded my expectations,” Deacon Myron said.  “With this year’s program, we established a template that can be built on.”

Deacon Trevor agreed. “For a first effort, especially with a well-known deacon as our retreat master, it went well,” he said.

The deacons said they plan to make a few small changes to make next year’s retreat to make it even better. “We expect next next year’s program to include educational,  spiritual, and social components, but to keep the experience fresh we plan to make it different from this year’s,” Deacon Myron said.

Next year’s retreat may add an additional opportunity for fellowship, “like a dinner out together or a Pittsburgh excursion,” said Deacon Trevor. He added that the retreat may include “liturgical or chant practica for both educational and standardization purposes.”